# War: 95% boredom/5% terror? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 18, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-95-boredom-5-terror/585968 "2011-06-18T20:52:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-95-boredom-5-terror/585968/1 "2011-06-18T20:52:48Z")
For quite a while I’ve tried to track down not only the source but the exact text of a “famous quote” that goes something along the lines of: War is long stretches of boredom interrupted by moments of extreme terror. I think I’ve been able to rule out Wm T. Sherman, Gen. Geo. Patton, Mark Twain as the source. I may have heard it on the TV series _M_A_S_H\*, but don’t know if it was original to that or they got it from somewhere else. I saw it mentioned in reference to the works of Michael Herr ([Michael Herr - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Herr)) but don’t know if it appeared in his _Esquire Magazine_ articles or his book _Dispatches_. My local library has the book, but I’m not sure I have the intestinal fortitude to read it. Anyone know the source and exact quote? Note to mods: since I’m asking about a quote I believe is by a historical figure or non-fiction source I posted this to GQ. If it properly belongs in another forum, my apologies and please move it. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-95-boredom-5-terror/585968/2 "2011-06-18T21:07:18Z")
[moderating] GQ should be just fine for this question. I hope someone has an answer. You have me curious now! [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-95-boredom-5-terror/585968/3 "2011-06-18T21:28:21Z")
[This 1970 NY Times article](http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F7061FFB385B107B93C1A9178FD85F448785F9) “sheer boredom interspersed with periods of stark terror,” but no percentages ascribed. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-95-boredom-5-terror/585968/4 "2011-06-19T02:23:39Z")
cite from 1915 [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=50FIAQAAIAAJ&q=war+boredom+terror&dq=war+boredom+terror&hl=en&ei=n1j9TerOKc\_OswbL7N3uDQ&sa=X&oi=book\_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBA](http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=50FIAQAAIAAJ&q=war+boredom+terror&dq=war+boredom+terror&hl=en&ei=n1j9TerOKc_OswbL7N3uDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBA) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-95-boredom-5-terror/585968/5 "2011-06-19T02:37:20Z")
The same quote is frequently used for air travel, and attributed to Orson Welles, but his exact line was, “There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror.” ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-95-boredom-5-terror/585968/6 "2011-06-19T21:25:28Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > cite from 1915 {snip} Thanks for the link. Excerpt from a letter dated October 27, 1914 by an unnamed British cavalry subaltern, published by _The London Times_ on 4th November, 1914, p. 979, col 1: Some one described this war as “Months of boredom punctuated by moments of terror.” Further searching led me to this: “‘Months of boredom punctuated by moments of intense fright’ is a definition of war which undoubtedly Noah would have regarded as a chestnut. And I should think it doubtful if there has ever been a war in which this definition was more correct.” _Men, women and guns_, by “Sapper”, 1916. Excerpted from: [http://www.archive.org/stream/menwomenguns00sappuoft#page/282/mode/2up/search/boredom](http://www.archive.org/stream/menwomenguns00sappuoft#page/282/mode/2up/search/boredom) A letter home from American soldier Ross Playfair, dated 14th November, 1917, in which the adage as phrased by “Sapper” appears: [http://www.rcplayfair.ca/letters/index.php?id=243](http://www.rcplayfair.ca/letters/index.php?id=243) Regarding the 1914 cite: someone pointed out on another board that the cavalry subaltern’s allusion to the adage was curious as the war had been in progress only 3-1/2 months at the time he wrote his letter. At this point, I’m not sure if one can determine the origin of the adage. Be that as it may… Many thanks to all who contributed. Regards, ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-95-boredom-5-terror/585968/7 "2011-06-20T03:19:14Z")
> [@Toucanna](#): > > Regarding the 1914 cite: someone pointed out on another board that the cavalry subaltern’s allusion to the adage was curious as the war had been in progress only 3-1/2 months at the time he wrote his letter. Which is about 2 & 1/2 months longer than people thought the war would last; plus, it’s significant that it’s a cavalry officer speaking - the cavalry was the mobile arm, always on the go, always doing something; it was the poor sods in the infantry who just had to march, boring day after boring day - except for the first time, in this war, the cavalry was almost immobilized, so the inactivity would stand out even more.